SHADE
SHADE
Teen-Led Places in Public Spaces, This Summer!
Donate Today
SHADE is a hands-on, teen-led effort. Our teens address urban heat & teen mental health with places by teens, for everyone.
Our Method
Teen teams leverage their social capital to create teen-led places in our public spaces to address teen mental health & rising heat.
Today's teens face converging crises. Teen mental health is plummeting while summer heat soars.
Our parks and public places haven’t kept pace with today’s challenges. SHADE is an evolving effort to co-create modular, safe, and fun-to-build public installations to help young people address these issues for themselves and the larger community.
Vision & Mission
“SHADE was born out of our shared experience working together [on RECESS^] in M.S.Y.E.P.* We saw firsthand how few safe public spaces existed for teens—especially those from marginalized backgrounds—to gather and be themselves without pressure or surveillance. That Fall, we brainstormed, planned, and launched SHADE in Donnelly Field as embracing teen space.”
Eli, CRLS ‘25 ^RECESS, precursor, 🎬 :30sec reel *Mayor’s Summer Youth Employment Program
Vision
A Teen-Led Placemaking Movement for Teen Mental Health, Climate Resilience, and Experiential Learning
Mission
Teen-Led Places in Public Spaces, This Summer!
“There's people who just don't really have the resources or the places to be themselves. To speak their mind. Live the life they want to live, you know? SHADE is a place where they can enjoy their time away from home. Make things happen in their own eyes, man.” Nico, CCSC ‘26 Collaborator since 2021
contact & collaborate
SHADE is a fiscally-sponsored nonprofit of the Hideo Sasaki Foundation | Donate Today!
For Lessons Learned, Our 2026 Plan, and More:
Jeff Goldenson jeff@buildingways.com
Climate Resilience | Community | Youth-led | Civic transformation | Empowerment | Public Spaces | Collaboration | Place Making | Creativity | Community | Mental Health